Stereotype Examples

Common Stereotypes

African Americans

One of the more common stereotype examples is stereotypes surrounding African Americans. Saying that all African Americans are good at sports is a stereotype, because it’s grouping the race together to indicate that everyone of that race is a good athlete.

Men and Women

There are also some common stereotypes of men and women, such as:

Men are strong and do all the work.
Men are the “backbone.”
Women aren't as smart as a man.
Women can’t do as good of a job as a man.
Girls are not good at sports.
Guys are messy and unclean.
Men who spend too much time on the computer or read are geeks.

Cultures

Stereotypes also exist about cultures an countries as a whole. Stereotype examples of this sort include the premises that:

All white Americans are obese, lazy, and dim-witted. Homer Simpson of the TV series The Simpsons is the personification of this stereotype.
Mexican stereotypes suggest that all Mexicans are lazy and came into America illegally.
All Arabs and Muslims are terrorists.
All people who live in England have bad teeth.
Italian or French people are the best lovers.
All African Americans outside of the United States are poor.
All Jews are greedy.
All Asians are good at math. All Asians like to eat rice and drive slow.
All Irish people are drunks and eat potatoes.
All Americans are generally considered to be friendly, generous, and tolerant, but also arrogant, impatient, and domineering.

Groups of Individuals

A different type of stereotype also involves grouping of individuals. Skaters, Goths, Gangsters, and Preps are a few examples. Most of this stereotyping is taking place in schools. For example:

Goths wear black clothes, black makeup, are depressed and hated by society.
Punks wear mohawks, spikes, chains, are a menace to society and are always getting in trouble.
All politicians are philanders and think only of personal gain and benefit.
Girls are only concerned about physical appearance.
All blonds are unintelligent.
All librarians are women who are old, wear glasses, tie a high bun, and have a perpetual frown on their face.
All teenagers are rebels.
All children don't enjoy healthy food.
Only anorexic women can become models.

Sexual Stereotypes

Sexual stereotypes, on the other hand, suggest that any feminine man is gay and any masculine woman is a lesbian. Those who believe gay stereotypes may also believe that homosexuality is immoral, wrong and an abomination.

What Is a Stereotype

The definition of a stereotype is any commonly known public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual. Stereotypes are often confused with prejudices, because, like prejudices, a stereotype is based on a prior assumption. Stereotypes are often created about people of specific cultures or races.

Almost every culture or race has a stereotype, including Jewish people, African American people, Irish people, and Polish people, among others.

Stereotypes are not just centered on different races and backgrounds, however. Gender stereotypes also exist. For example, if you say that men are better than women, you’re stereotyping all men and all women. If you say that all women like to cook, you are stereotyping women.

Sexual orientation stereotypes are also common. These stereotypes occur when you have negative views on gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals. People who have these negative views are often known as homophobic.

Why Is it Bad to Stereotype?

Stereotyping is not only hurtful, it is also wrong. Even if the stereotype is correct in some cases, constantly putting someone down based on your preconceived pereptions will not encourage them to succeed.

Stereotyping can lead to bullying form a young age. Jocks and Preps pick on the Nerds and the Geeks; Skaters pick on the Goths, so on and so forth. Stereotyping is encouraging bullying behavior that children carry into adulthood.

Stereotyping can also lead people to live lives driven by hate, and can cause the victims of those stereotypes to be driven by fear. For example, many gays and lesbians are afraid to admit their sexuality in fear of being judged. It is a lose-lose situation, both for those who are doing the stereotype and those who are victims.